With both teams fighting for post-season participation, but each having been knocked out when facing heavyweights, the question here becomes which club do you have more faith in? For us, it’s an easy choice. While we understand how Baltimore is favoured here, we’ll gladly accept points with what we believe is the better team and undisputedly the superior offence. While we can’t blame Baltimore’s scoring woes all on QB Joe Flacco as he has little to work with, the Ravens currently rank dead last in the passing game when averaging a paltry 164 yards per game. That won’t work here. Not against Matthew Stafford and his potent attack. While Baltimore’s defence shows respectable numbers, most were accumulated against an assembly of wretched quarterbacks that include DeShone Kizer, Brett Hundley, Matt Moore, E.J. Manuel and Tom Savage. In one of those schedule quirks, Detroit arrives here after 10 days rest while Baltimore is on short week after Monday’s win against hopeless Houston. Leos leave here with a win.

TAKING: LIONS +2½

Panthers (8-3) at Saints (8-3)

LINE: NEW ORLEANS by 4½

New Orleans’ defence gained some long awaited respectability when it recently held the Packers, Bears, Bucs and Bills to a combined 49 points in four games respectively. Doubts have since resurfaced when allowing more adept offences of Redskins and Rams to rack up yardage and points on the Saints’ stop unit the past two weeks. So where does that put things? We’d say with the former rather than the latter. The Panthers offence is a troubled group that aligns more closely with the subpar offensive units. Just last week, the Panthers were significantly outgained by the Jets but were able to take advantage of New York miscues en route to a deceivable win. To add to Carolina’s woes, top receiver Devin Funchess is hobbled by a toe injury and TE Greg Olson has a bad foot. Even if both go, Cam Newton’s passing has been atrocious this season and he won’t be able to trade blows with counterpart Drew Brees. Saints won earlier meeting by 34-13 count. With good reason.

TAKING: SAINTS -4½

Rams (8-3) at Cardinals (5-6)

LINE: L.A. RAMS by 7

You rarely get a better situational play than this one. The high-flying Rams just completed a pair of games against two other NFC division leaders, splitting the set with a loss to the Vikings before an impressive win over the Saints last week. To complete the circuit, Los Angeles would have to play the mighty Eagles and as luck would have it, guess who is visiting the Rams next week? If you said Philadelphia, give yourself a cheesesteak hoagie. The only tastier sandwich is the situation L.A. falls into here. Wedged between those three marquee games finds the Rams on the road, spotting a full touchdown and doing so against an unsuspecting division foe before the big showdown next week. We’re frothing at the mouth. Meanwhile, as unlikely as it may seem, fourth- or fifth-or whatever-string quarterback Blaine Gabbert is, he has ignited a previously stale offence by scoring 48 points combined in past two games for the Cardinals, including a win over favoured Jacksonville on this field last Sunday.

TAKING: CARDINALS +7

THE REST

49ers (1-10) at Bears (3-8)

LINE: CHICAGO by 3

You look at this one and shrug your shoulders, thinking that neither club is a real bargain. Not so, my friends. The Bears are simply not a team to be spotting points with. Now that defensive coordinators around the league have seen enough footage of Mitch Trubisky, they’ll roll the dice, load the box and allow the young pivot to try to beat their clubs through the air. Good luck with that. Last week in a 31-3 blasting, the Eagles held the Bears to just six yards rushing and Trubisky to 147 yards passing, zero touchdowns and two picks. The Niners are ready to reveal Jimmy Garoppolo and a San Fran spark can be expected.

TAKING: 49ERS +3

Vikings (9-2) at Falcons (7-4)

LINE: ATLANTA by 3

We’ve been bucking the Vikings recently and it has proven costly with Minnesota currently on a six-game cover streak. So as the old saying goes, “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.” Of course we need reasons to back this visitor and there are no shortage of those. Firstly, Vikes are rested after playing 10 days ago. Mike Zimmer’s team has covered six of past eight when given extra prep time. Secondly, we don’t trust Atlanta’s recent offensive output. Winners of three straight, Atlanta had the luxury of facing some beat up defences as Dallas, Seattle and crappy Tampa all had key hurts. Lastly, Minnesota employs a strong defence that ranks second in rushing yards allowed and it held top offence Rams to just seven points.

TAKING: VIKINGS +3

Patriots (9-2) at Bills (6-5)

LINE: NEW ENGLAND by 8½

No need to list New England credentials here as they continue to mow down teams with relative ease. Why fight that? Granted, it’s a big number for a divisional road favourite but all is not well in Buffalo simply because the Bills defeated the nosediving Chiefs last week. Buffalo’s latest home game resulted in a 47-10 embarrassment to the Saints and was followed up with the Nathan Peterman debacle in a 54-24 crushing at the Chargers. Brady is hot and his Patriots have feasted on this opponent with a 10-2-1 against the spread (ATS) mark since the 2004 season. Buffalo lacks the offensive playmakers to keep pace here. Despite the division being all but locked up, the Patriots are still focused with home field for playoffs at stake.

TAKING: PATRIOTS -8½

Broncos (3-8) at Dolphins (4-7)

LINE: DENVER –1½

Hard to keep a straight face when picking this one. Both teams have been an abomination and golf season cannot come soon enough. Based on efforts though, have to lean Denver’s way as the Dolphins have a work ethic that make even government workers laugh. Denver’s spinning wheel of quarterbacks appears to have landed back on Trevor Siemian this week as Paxton Lynch was hurt last weekend versus Oakland and Siemian performed decently in relief. At least Denver has outgained its opponents on the season, by about 400 yards, while the Dolphins have allowed nearly 800 more than they’ve accumulated. How bad must Fish be to have a team on seven-game losing streak favoured in your house?

TAKING: BRONCOS –1½

Texans (4-7) at Titans (7-4)

LINE: TENNESSEE by 7

Titans are not your typical team to be spotting a converted touchdown with. Tennessee has won just two games by more than a touchdown this season, albeit against other AFC South inhabitants. The Titans are also draining bankrolls with only two covers in previous eight games. However, this could be a good spot for them. They owe this guest big time as Houston clobbered Tennessee by an outrageous 57-14 back in Week 4 as part of Deshaun Watson’s coming out party. Now Houston is forced to arrive here without their celebrated young quarterback and must do so on a short week after losing to Baltimore on Monday night. Texans can’t pass and they’ll have troubles running on stout defence that has allowed just three rushing touchdowns all year.

TAKING: TITANS –7

Colts (3-8) at Jaguars (7-4)

LINE: JACKSONVILLE by 9½

Been a long while since the Jaguars have been lined up in this price range, so some trepidation would be fully understood. It has also been a long time since a team as poor as the Colts has stopped by for a visit. Indianapolis’ abysmal defence ranks 32nd in points allowed, 30th in passing yards allowed and 29th in total yards relinquished. The other side of the ball isn’t much better, with a cast of underwhelming skill position players. The earlier meeting between these division mates at Lucas Oil Field resulted in visiting Jacksonville pitching a 27-0 shutout and that was without star runner Leonard Fournette. Jags on 5-0 run ATS both after a loss and in this series.

TAKING: JAGUARS –9½

Bucs (4-7) at Packers (5-6)

LINE: TAMPA BAY by 1

It’s no secret that this is a week-to-week league, but if the Packers, as a 14-point underdog, go toe to toe with the Steelers in Pittsburgh, shouldn’t Green Bay be able to defeat this shoddy visitor? The key of course, is the play of Aaron Rodgers’ understudy, Brett Hundley. While Hundley struggled terribly in his first few starts, he has come around lately and looked rather comfortable in that noble effort against Pittsburgh, tossing three touchdowns with no interceptions. Green Bay still has flickering playoff hopes. Win this one, do same in Cleveland next week and Rodgers could be back to face the Panthers in Week 15. Bucs are a sloppy and unreliable squad that should not be favoured here.

TAKING: PACKERS +1

Chiefs (6-5) at Jets (4-7)

LINE: KANSAS CITY by 3½

It’s not how you start, but how you finish as Chiefs are learning the hard way. A 5-0 start has turned into a 6-5 struggle as Kansas City can’t find its way out of this tailspin. We’d have to be foolish to think that things will suddenly get better against this hard-trying Jets club. Gang Green outplayed Carolina last week but were hurt by mistakes which ultimately cost them the game and the cover, New York’s only failure to cover here in six home games this season. Jets are competing while the Chiefs are off losses to the completely inept Giants and then at home to what was a slumping Bills’ team.

TAKING: JETS +3½

Browns (0-11) at Chargers (5-6)

LINE: L.A. CHARGERS by 14

How can any team be seeking revenge over the Browns? When Cleveland’s only win over the past two seasons were at your expense, that’ll do it. The Chargers find themselves in this awkward position after the Browns were able to avoid a 0-16 season a year ago by upending the Bolts 20-17 in the 2016 season’s penultimate game. Skip ahead nearly one year and the charging Chargers are suddenly one of the more feared teams as we head into the final month of this campaign. Surprisingly, this is the most points offered to Cleveland this season, but with Anthony Lynn’s squad playing well on both sides of the ball, can’t see Browns scoring much while Philip Rivers can light up Cleveland’s leaky secondary. Payback time.

TAKING: CHARGERS –14

Giants (2-9) at Raiders (5-6)

LINE: OAKLAND by 9

The only thing more shocking than Matt Lauer’s dismissal in New York this week may have been Eli Manning’s benching. Now, turnover-machine Geno Smith will take the helm with rookie Davis Webb expected to get some reps. Certainly a whirlwind surrounds the troubled Giants, but we’re still inclined to lean G-Men here as an opponent with as poor a defence that Oakland deploys is hardly worthy of spotting more than a touchdown. Also concerning is that the Raiders are likely to be without their top two receivers as Michael Crabtree is suspended and Amari Cooper is in concussion protocol. Raiders have covered just two of their past nine games.

TAKING: GIANTS +9

Eagles (10-1) at Seahawks (7-4)

LINE: PHILADELPHIA by 6

With the way they are blasting through opponents, the Joes (recreational bettors) are reluctant to fade the Eagles. That same sentiment is the premium required to board their bandwagon. Proof positive is when this line opened at Philadelphia -3½ and has since climbed to Philly -6. Seattle is flawed because of the many injuries on defence, but the offence continues to battle with versatile QB Russell Wilson being difficult to contain. Under Wilson’s guidance, the Seahawks surprisingly rank seventh in passing yards and eighth in total yards per game. Eagles are obviously a strong team with few knocks against them. However, they haven’t played a winning team since mid-October and Seattle has not been an underdog in this price range since Russell Wilson’s arrival.

TAKING: SEAHAWKS +6

Steelers (9-2) at Bengals (5-6)

LINE: PITTSBURGH by 5½

Can anyone figure out the Steelers? Pittsburgh’s six covers this season have come against five winning clubs and just one sub .500 team. Its five failures, all when favoured by seven or more, were against four losers when succumbing straight up to the Bears while claiming just three point victories against the Browns, Colts and Aaron Rodger-less Packers. However, the sole losing team that Pittsburgh did manage to cover against were none other than these Bengals in a 29-14 decision at Heinz Field just over a month ago. What’s odd about that one is that the Steelers were only a four-point home favourite in that game and now they are a six-point favourite in Cincinnati? Pittsburgh clearly the better squad but this line doesn’t sit right.

This Week's Flyers

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